John had recently moved to a town two hours from the city. After the divorce he wanted to be as far away as possible from everything that reminded him of his days as a married man, that brief illusion of love that vanished in the daily routine. Now all he had left was his work, his love for coffee, which was what kept him alive.

He had been working for a local coffee factory for about fifteen years and without a doubt he was passionate about the art of coffee. He had graduated from a major university as a chemist and although his family made fun of him he was not ashamed to have ended up working in a coffee shop. In fact his chemical knowledge was very useful in coffee formulas.

His new house in town was much bigger than the one in the city, the weather was cool and the streets were quiet. It seemed like a perfect place at first glance, but what really bothered John was the moodiness of the people. Long faces and sour answers were everywhere he went, he didn't understand the bitterness of the townspeople. Even in the one coffee shop people looked unhappy.

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John thought about it every day, it even seemed to him that he was becoming obsessed. He tried to be nice to his neighbors, he tried several things and nothing worked. Sad and resigned, he went every afternoon to the small coffee shop in town and sipped that watery and tasteless coffee. One afternoon while that tasteless brown liquid was going down his throat, John thought that nobody could be happy with such a bad coffee and that sudden thought brought him many ideas.

He spoke directly to the owner of the coffee shop, explained to him about his work in the coffee factory and offered to supply his business with the best beans they produced. The man did not seem very animated, some gestures of annoyance seemed to announce a negative response. Then John used his last card: a special price for his good neighbor. At this point the man accepted.

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Now John would have to pay out of his paycheck the discount he had given the man in the coffee shop. But that didn't matter to him, the only thing he wanted at that moment was to prove that a good coffee could change the life of a whole town. The first shipment arrived, the smell of coffee emanated through the windows of the coffee shop, people came more frequently and the coffee was sold in large quantities. But the bad mood did not disappear, it seemed that the townspeople needed something more than a good coffee to improve their mood.

In the next shipment John already had everything planned, he took the coffee to his house days before and began to intervene. He tried several things, he was looking for the perfect formula. He had no scruples when it came to combining substances, he tried both legal and illegal ones, until he realized that he had achieved what he was looking for. Then he took the shipment to the cafeteria and sat down to wait.

The effect was not immediate; it took several days before the results began to show. Suddenly the townspeople were saying good morning to each other, learning to pronounce "please" and "thank you". Young people gave up their seats to old people on the bus, drivers respected the traffic signs, they gave way to each other. In the stores and stores you were greeted with a smile, it seemed like everyone had just stepped out of a fairy tale.

John was very happy, his formula had worked, he thought he could patent it: "Empathy Coffee", a good name for a special edition. That afternoon he went to the coffee shop and the place looked bright, he greeted his neighbors and sat down to play chess with the old people who had brought their chess boards. The young men brought their equipment and played some music, suddenly everything had become a party. The laughter of the women threatened the music and young couples in love came out among the tables to dance.

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John had never been so happy. That night he came home and wrote down the coffee formula that had radically changed the people of his town. The next day he would take the product proposal to his boss, he was sure that his formula would contribute to a better world. Empathy Coffee was something that everyone should know about. To be totally happy, all we need is a cup of coffee and a good dose of empathy.